Magic Slim and the Teardrops Black Tornado Blind Pig 5046

Morris "Magic Slim" Holt has come a long way toward finding his own voice since his 1978 Highway Is My Home, which featured just one original song. Holt’s third Blind Pig disc since 1990 is just a cut above Gravel Road and Scufflin’ in that more than half the titles are originals, including one by his bassist brother, Nick, and his son, Shawn.

Holt is a powerful guitarist with a booming voice that’s perfect for the material at hand. His rendition of Muddy Waters’ "Still a Fool" matches the smoldering intensity of his version of "Just to Be With You" on his Rooster LP, Grand Slam — itself the equal of Muddy’s original 1956 recording. The Mississippi native and childhood friend of Magic Sam, who gave him a few pointers, revamps Sam’s roaring version of "I Feel So Good" — here titled "Magic Boogie" — in a way that would undoubtedly have pleased his mentor.

While Holt can boogie with the best of them, I find his relaxed sagas of woman problems more interesting. On "I Can’t Trust My Woman" he’s "gonna buy me a hound dog to guard my house while I’m gone"; his "Crazy Woman" has a "mind just like a goose. I think I’m goin’ down and buy me a tool box, I believe that woman’s got a screw loose."

A.C. Reed’s pulsating "I’m a Jealous Man" and Joe Scott’s "You’ve Got Bad Intentions" ("You ain’t’ got nice things in mind") complete Holt’s catalog of wary distrust of the opposite sex. He makes amends, though, on the last track, Buster Benton’s "Love Like I Wanna," where the tight band really delivers the goods.